Speaking to Russian youth during his participation in a webinar organized by the Russian “Knowledge” Association, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu drew attention to the heroic actions of the Russian military in Syria.
The Russian film industry has recently produced a feature film entitled “The Sky” that highlights the heroic actions of two Russian Air Force personnel in Syria. In his speech to the observers and viewers of the symposium, Minister Shoigu said that the film “Sky” tells the story of Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov and his fellow navigator Konstantin Murakhtin.
Their Su-24 plane was shot down in northern Syria on November 24, 2015, by a Turkish-backed FSA unit. They managed to leave their burning plane, landing by parachute. Pilot Oleg Bychkov was killed while parachuting after gunmen shot him, while navigator Konstantin Murakhtin reached the ground unharmed and was rescued.
Minister Shoigu said that (Konstantin Murakhtin) found himself in the whereabouts of the terrorists and could have surrendered to them in order to remain alive, but he did not do this and did his best not to be captured by them and notified friendly forces of his whereabouts. The Special Forces elements came to his aid and rescued him All the killers of pilot Oleg Bychkov were later punished.
Minister Shoigu told the story of another Russian pilot who performed heroic actions in Syria, noting that the pilot, Major Roman Filipov, jumped from his plane after his plane was hit by a parachute, but descended to lands controlled by terrorists. He refused to give up and kept firing at them until the last shot, then blew himself up with a grenade.
Minister Shoigu also told the story of the Special Forces soldiers who got into a difficult situation when the terrorists managed to surround them and all of them were wounded, but they continued to resist the attackers, waiting for the coming of their comrades. Their leader was aware of the possibility of being captured by the aggressors, so he put a grenade in his hand and the hand of each of them, despite his belief that the comrades would come to save them, and the comrades came, and they broke the siege.
